Too2much
In the Brooder
- May 25, 2016
- 9
- 4
- 11
Starting out on this backyard chicken thing. Bought 10 chicks, 2 died within 48 hours, 1 turned out to be a rooster, big no no in my county. So I have 7 left, wanted to wait till I was fairly certain they were going to survive in my care before naming them. I have named my little flock "Yall Chickens", yes, they are all named Yall Chickens, simple yet effective, don't have to tell them apart, although some of their personalities are shining through.
In 3 months, they have gone from fluffy balls of peeping cuteness, into a gang of Juvenal delinquents. They are enclosed next to the house while growing and until the coop is done. I can open my french door directly into their pen, thinking how clever I was and patting myself on the back, I started sitting on the stoop in the pen and hand feeding them, the cuteness factor on overload as Yall Chickens started competing for room on my lap and worms from my fingers, what I did not realize is, they started associating the door with treats. The door opens and worms come out. After, I started noticing they were staring a hole through the door. Then the little rooster started crowing at 5:30 in the morning, arrrggg. Looking through the slit, that gang of thugs were actually egging on that little rooster to crow at the door, ok, just this once, I gave in, lights on, worm treats in hand, door opens and they are all milling about nonchalantly, right! I saw them burning a hole through the door not 5 minutes before. Now this went on for about a week until little Tyson found a nice home in a place where he can crow his heart out or he ended up in the soup pot.
With what I thought was the ring leader gone, peace would reign again. Reality, poor Tyson was the dupe, the patsy, Yall Chickens was really running the show and she is a clever bird, within a couple days I started hearing knocks at the door, Yall Chickens was teaching the other Yall Chickens to peck the door, seven little peckers knocking at the door at 5:30 in the morning. Worse then that, they have pecked a big hole in the screen door, got into my room, found the bag of worms, roosted on the furniture and worse of all, they pooped all over the place! Breaking and entering, ransacking and vandalizing the place with no shame. This is not what I had in mind for their first taste of free ranging.
Coop building has gone into building frenzy mode. Kicking them out of the nest so soon is just a fact of life, they need their space. Those eggs better be worth it.
In 3 months, they have gone from fluffy balls of peeping cuteness, into a gang of Juvenal delinquents. They are enclosed next to the house while growing and until the coop is done. I can open my french door directly into their pen, thinking how clever I was and patting myself on the back, I started sitting on the stoop in the pen and hand feeding them, the cuteness factor on overload as Yall Chickens started competing for room on my lap and worms from my fingers, what I did not realize is, they started associating the door with treats. The door opens and worms come out. After, I started noticing they were staring a hole through the door. Then the little rooster started crowing at 5:30 in the morning, arrrggg. Looking through the slit, that gang of thugs were actually egging on that little rooster to crow at the door, ok, just this once, I gave in, lights on, worm treats in hand, door opens and they are all milling about nonchalantly, right! I saw them burning a hole through the door not 5 minutes before. Now this went on for about a week until little Tyson found a nice home in a place where he can crow his heart out or he ended up in the soup pot.
With what I thought was the ring leader gone, peace would reign again. Reality, poor Tyson was the dupe, the patsy, Yall Chickens was really running the show and she is a clever bird, within a couple days I started hearing knocks at the door, Yall Chickens was teaching the other Yall Chickens to peck the door, seven little peckers knocking at the door at 5:30 in the morning. Worse then that, they have pecked a big hole in the screen door, got into my room, found the bag of worms, roosted on the furniture and worse of all, they pooped all over the place! Breaking and entering, ransacking and vandalizing the place with no shame. This is not what I had in mind for their first taste of free ranging.
Coop building has gone into building frenzy mode. Kicking them out of the nest so soon is just a fact of life, they need their space. Those eggs better be worth it.
Welcome to the forum!
Where did you get these chickens?
